A greater focus on research and development and an added third layer of security were key decision making factors behind McAfee's decision to sign on to its acquistion by Intel.
David DeWalt, CEO of McAfee, outlined the company’s motivation behind the recent acquistion at briefing in Sydney.
“The strategy behind the acquisition has been to create third pillar of computing for Intel," he said. "Intel performance and efficiency has been a goal for [the company] as a provider and now we’ve been able to provide another pillar in security."
DeWalt said the move will allow McAfee to build upon Intel’s influence in the security market.
“This is something that has always been pervasive in chip technology but this hasn’t been utilised very effectively," he said. "Anti-theft technology, tolerance capabilities are the areas we see being utilised.”
DeWalt said Australian McAfee workers will not be affected by the acquisition, and that an increase in research and development will occur as a result of the merger.
“We see opportunities to do a lot of innovation with what’s already there as well as what will be there in the coming years," he said. "The ability to manage our R&D spend is always challenging because we’re always looking at our bottom line.
“Intel has a very innovative culture and has created an excellent platform for employees to really think about new models that we can take security to. We thought it was an ideal scenario to create a positive partnership."